Widen Main St.? Community Had Other Ideas, and Thrived

Brendan Bannon for The New York Times

U.S. 62, which is Main Street in Hamburg, N.Y., was rebuilt to slow traffic and aid pedestrians. The changes have inspired business investment and civic activity.

NYTimes.com: "Twelve years ago, the State Transportation Department proposed improving U.S. Route 62, the village’s mile-long Main Street, by adding another traffic lane, removing parallel parking and narrowing sidewalks. When Susan Burns, a lifelong Hamburg resident, saw the plan, she remembers asking, “What are you doing with the trees and the people?” She said she was told by state officials, “We have to get the traffic through.”"

Banks benefit twice from bailout as they milk MTA with interest-rate swaps

Money For Nothing – New York Interest Rate Swaps: "The economic collapse and federal bailout changed the “rules of the game” with respect to interest rates. Now taxpayers are suffering and governments are stuck with the old rules while banks are allowed to play by the new ones. We need one set of rules for everyone.

Banks should be held accountable for their part in crashing the economy, not rewarded with a second bailout under lucrative swap agreements."